[M Lawrence]

if you wait until the middle of next month (maybe even earlier), fmr are finally releasing their really nice mic pre, and i think it'll be listing for $400 (which means it should hit the street at about $300), and if it live's up to the really nice compressor's price to quality ratio, it'll smoke all that mid/semi-pro crap (i.e., art, focusrite, hhb, presonus, joe meek, et. al) that's aimed at making those who can't afford the stuff will actually improve their mackie-pre's, and making them feel (via a lot of marketing hooey) that they're at least getting a "taste" of "pro-audio" for an affordable price. anyway, after the rnmp. you'll have close to enough dosh to get a lucid ad2496 ($750!), and between the both, mate, you will indeed have mucho bang for buck, becuase it is a bit of a waste to improve your mic pre if you're gonna be routing it through the 001's a/d converters. and the lucid's sound as good, if not better, than apogee's (their "rosetta" is also $200 more!)


good luck. i'm envious.

ml